The Raven's Prophecy
by Irish Luck
Summary: The only one who can defeat Voldemort is Voldemort himself, but how is there another Voldemort in the world? The answer: there's not, but four people possess parts of Voldemort that when put together just MIGHT do the trick. Will be DG!
1. Chapter One

~Chapter One~

            Harry awoke with a start.  There was a lingering burning pain in his forehead and his legs were tangled in the bed sheets, sure signs that he had just had another nightmare.  There was just one problem.  He didn't remember a thing from his sleep.  "This can't be good," he mumbled to himself.  A glance at the clock next to his bed revealed the time to be 4:30 in the morning and he groaned to himself.  There was absolutely no way he would be getting any more sleep tonight and it was far too early to do much of anything else.  After contemplating his dilemma for a few more seconds, Harry realized that the best choice he had was to go to the common room and stare at the fire for the next two hours.  With that decided he reluctantly left the comfort of his bed and made his way down the steps.

            "Hey Harry," a voice greeted him at the bottom.  Harry glanced around the common room with his still sleepy eyes and came to rest on a head of distinctly red hair.

            "G' Morning Gin," he replied.  "Whatcha doin' up so early?"

            "Had a nightmare, you?"

            "Same I suppose."

            Ginny nodded in affirmation to his comment and pointed to a chair next to her by the fire.  "Care to join me?"

            "Sure."

            And that's where the early risers for Gryffindor found Ginny and Harry when they came down the steps.  Both of them sitting in chairs and staring into the fire as if it held the mysteries of the universe.

            It was at least another hour later when Ron and Hermione finally made their way down to the Great Hall.  Both Ginny and Harry had progressed from the fire to the Great Hall before that and were munching away on various breakfast items.

            "Hello sleepyheads!" Harry commented as Ron and Hermione approached him.

Ron blinked rapidly for a few seconds and rubbed his eyes, obviously still in the throes of sleep.  "Harry?" he said sleepily.  "It's so early."

"It's only seven," Ginny said.  "Honestly, you get up at this time every morning."

"Seven?" Ron said, still not really comprehending what Harry and Ginny were telling him.

            "Yes Ron, seven.  You know, it's a number that represents a time of day, in this case in the morning," Ginny said absentmindedly, obviously used to this sort of behavior from her brother.  Ron grunted in answer and sat down to eat.

            A few minutes and a couple pancakes later, Ron was a bit more alert.  "What classes do we have today," he said, reaching for a third pancake.

            "Um… Double Potions and Transfiguration."

            "Bloody hell," Ron complained.  "Not Snape first thing in the morning!"

            "Unfortunately yes, Snape first thing in the morning," Harry said.

            "Shoot!" Ginny exclaimed.  "I have him after lunch!  Just my luck!  At least it isn't a double period."

            "Lucky you," Ron mumbled.

            "Come on you two," Hermione said to Harry and Ron.  "We don't want to be late to potions do we?  We'd better grab our stuff from our dorms and hustle down to Potions."

            "A'ight Mione," Harry and Ron grumbled before reluctantly getting up from the table to get ready for classes.

            "See you!" Ginny called at their retreating backs.

*          *          *          *

            "Geez man!  I can't believe Snape gave you detention because your potion exploded.  We all know it was Malfoy who added the Dragon Scale which caused it to blow up!" Ron complained to Harry.

            "Honestly you two.  The potion caused the table to melt and would've caused a lot more damage had Snape not controlled it." Hermione reprimanded.

            "Too bad it didn't land on Snape… or Malfoy," Ron muttered.  Harry snickered.

            "What time is your detention?"

            "Err… 8:30 I think.  It's with Snape."

            "Sucks to be you man," Ron said.

            It was after classes that day and the trio was making their way leisurely up to the Gryffindor Tower.  Their morning Potions class had not gone too well.  They had to make a difficult potion in the time period; every step had to be precise.  Of course, Malfoy, their archrival, couldn't resist the temptation of getting Harry into trouble.  They rounded the corner leading to the portrait when they met with a fuming red head.

            "What crawled up your ass and died?"

            "Bug off Ron; I'm not in the mood!" Ginny replied.

            "Obviously, but seriously Gin, what happened?  The only things I can think of that can get you this mad are the twins pouring green slime all over your clothes, chopping off your hair and turning the remaining hair neon pink," Ron said.

            Both Harry and Hermione gave Ron weird looks.  They were used to the twins' antics and didn't think their jokes could upset a family member that much.

            "No seriously you guys.  Nobody would go near Ginny for weeks!  She was absolutely livid.  You ever wonder what it takes for the twins to stop pranking you?  Ask Gin here.  She did it all.  Every time she looked at them for weeks afterwards they'd immediately leave the room.  They haven't pulled a prank on her since."  After this explanation, Harry and Hermione looked impressed.  They didn't think that the twins would be afraid to prank anyone, but apparently they were wrong.

            "So what's wrong Ginny?" Hermione asked her.

            "Only everything!  First I failed my transfiguration test today and you know how much points those things are worth in her class!  When mum gets wind of this I'll be confined to either my room or the library for weeks!..."

            Harry interrupted.  "What do you mean confined?  Your mum isn't here!  How will she confine you?"

            "Trust me, there's ways," Ginny replied.  "After lunch of course I had Potions.  Something awful must've happened in your class 'cause he was in a horrid mood.  Even the Slytherins were frightened of him.  I think it's just having two Gryffindor classes in a row.  Anyways, he wouldn't leave me alone.  I think I lost us about 80 points in that class alone because I 'wasn't specific in the uses of Powdered Unicorn Horn in the Invisibility Potion.'  Honestly, I'm sorry if I didn't mention that the Powdered Unicorn Horn allows the person using the potion to not only be able to see others clearly using the same potion clearly, but to notice small things such as the outline of an invisible object, which unless you were looking for it, you would pass over completely.  It is not a well-known fact!  And then, right after potions, I manage to run into Malfoy, literally.  Right before I was about to take out my foul mood on him, Snape rounds the corner and catches us.  I had my wand pulled out and Snape noticed that, but I only had it out because it had fallen out of my pocket when I knocked into Malfoy and I was putting it back into my pocket!  Snape didn't listen to my explanations and now I have a detention tonight with _him_!"  After finishing her explanations, Ginny stood there, panting a bit from the emotion she had used up and how fast she was talking during her explanation.

            "Is that all?" Ron asked cautiously.

            "What do you mean is that all?" Ginny replied nastily.

            "Would it please you to know that I have detention with Snape tonight as well?" Harry asked.

            "What?  You have detention?  I knew it; something did happen in your class to put Snape in a bad mood! What did you do?"  Ginny said.

            "We were making this complicated potion since it was a double period and we had more time.  Malfoy, being the bloody prat that he is, decided to get me in trouble and caused my potion to explode.  What he added made the potion acidic and it melted the cauldron, the table, and was beginning to melt the floor before Snape finally got it under control."

            "Geez!  No wonder he was in a foul mood for our class!  Come to think of it, one of the tables didn't seem to fit in with the rest.  Didn't look as used."

            "Yeah well, how 'bout we relax up in the Common Room before dinner?  Don't know what Snape will make us do for detention."

            "Sure, as long as I can do my DADA homework as well.  It shouldn't take me that long." Ginny replied.

            "I suppose you can," Harry replied.  "When did she become so Hermione-ish?" he muttered at Ron who shrugged in reply.

            "I heard that you two!  I am not turning Hermione-ish.  This thing is due tomorrow and I need to get it done!  Ah, morons," Ginny exclaimed before throwing the password at the Fat Lady and entering the Common Room.  Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged before following Ginny inside with Hermione entering after them.

*          *          *          *

            Later that night, after dinner was finished, Harry and Ginny headed down into the dungeons for their detentions.  When they walked into the classroom, they found it was empty, and so sat in some of the desks to wait.

            "So, what do you suppose we'll be doing?" Harry asked Ginny.

            "I dunno," she replied.  "We're probably scrubbing every inch of this place with only toothbrushes and our own spit as our tools."

            "That would be interesting."

            "That would be disgusting.  Not to mention the fact that we'd quickly run out of spit," Ginny pointed out.

            "Not me!"  Harry stood up in fake bravado.  "I am the Spit King.  Those who dare insult the quantity of my spit shall face its never-ending supply!"

            "Fine," Ginny challenged, "I insult the quantity of your spit.  You couldn't even wet the tip of a quill with the spit you have."

            "Aw, missy, you do not want to go there and challenge the Spit King!  If you take that back immediately, I shall not harm you," Harry said, continuing to play the part of Spit King.

            "And I, your dryness, shall not take back what is the truth."

            "Then you shall pay," The Spit King replied.

            Ginny and Harry then proceeded to participate in a mock battle in which they transfigured chairs into giant toothpicks to be used as swords.  It was obvious that they had become a lot more comfortable around each other.  Ginny had finally gotten over her long-time crush on Harry.  In fact, she had begun to get rid of it last year, her fourth year.  Now they were just friends.

            "Don't you know that it isn't honorable to hit a lady," Ginny taunted Harry as they continued with their random duel.

            "Then it is a good thing that you're not a lady," Harry replied jabbing his toothpick at Ginny, which she blocked and returned.

            Ginny grinned, "But I'm afraid I must stop this duel right now for I'm sure that I'd lose."

            "Ah-ha!  I knew that you would submit to my spitting greatness!"

            "No!  I am merely quitting because it isn't honorable to hit a lady."

            "Hey!"

            "What is going on here?" a cold, smooth voice interrupted their fight.  Ginny and Harry immediately stopped fighting and faced their professor.

            "We were… um… waiting for you?" Harry replied.

            "A likely story, get rid of those sticks and then we can begin your detention.  I have half a mind to give you both another detention for your behavior in my absence!" Snape said.

            "That won't be necessary sir, it won't happen again," Ginny said as their mock swords once again became chairs.

            "Be sure that it doesn't.  Now follow me."

            Ginny and Harry followed Snape into a little used room connected to the potions room.  It was dirty and dusty and there were huge spots of what looked remotely like mold covering the walls.  Stacked up in one corner were cauldrons so unused they were covered in cobwebs.  Harry and Ginny looked around at the mess in dismay.

            "You two are going to clean every speck of this room using only muggle means, which means that I'm going to need your wands.  Don't worry; you'll get them back, once this room is spotless."

            Reluctantly, Ginny and Harry got out their wands and handed them into Snape's care, mentally hoping that they'd see them again in their current condition.  Snape, with the two wands in hand, nodded his head towards a corner of the room that they hadn't noticed yet.  That corner contained mops, brooms, soap, a water source, and anything else needed to clean a room.  After making sure that they had seen the supplies, Snape left, leaving the door open.

            "Well," Ginny said, "what now?"

            "Isn't that obvious, we get started."

            "I meant what first genius."

            "Oh, right.  Well, how about I start on the cauldrons and you sweep the floor," Harry said.

            "Sounds like a plan," Ginny replied, already reaching for the broom.

            Within minutes they were working away.  Harry was methodically polishing the cauldrons while Ginny swept the dirt into a neat little pile on the floor.  Everything seemed to be going well.  In fact, Ginny predicted that they would finish this work in no time.  It was simple really; I mean Ginny did it all the time at home.  Harry did too for that matter.  Little did they know the true excitement of the night was still to come.

            It was just as Ginny was putting the broom away in exchange for the little sweep and pan to transport the dirt from the floor to the trash can that it happened.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry go white and frantically clutch at his forehead.  Moments later she felt it as well.  Pain, beyond what she had ever felt before.  It was angry pain, very angry indeed.  It touched the very tips of her fingers, toes, even the strands of her hair.  She heard a high wailing sound and moments later realized that it was her own voice producing it.  There was an evil in her, inside her, trying to consume her, and it was all she could do to beat it back down.  Her vision blurred and finally darkness, soothing darkness consumed her.

*          *          *          *

A/N: Hoped you liked.  This is a new idea I came up with and I hope that it turns out like I want it to.  It should get better.  For those of you that are worried of the lack of characters, namely Draco Malfoy (I know that I put this as a DG fic, he will turn up.  Next chapter I'm hoping.)  I am a big DG shipper just so you know, but it won't be stressed in this story.  For those who have read my other works, I want to thank you.  Lily's Tale will be continued despite what you may think.  I have been suffering a writer's disease, you may have heard about it.  It's called Writer's Block.  Unfortunately, the only cure seems to be time and inspiration.  Anyway, review.  Please feel free to comment on any errors.  I realize that I haven't edited this chapter and would greatly appreciate your help.  Thanks a million! ~Irish


	2. Chapter Two

~Chapter Two~

            She was in a cloud, a fuzzy place.  She just wanted to rest, but there were voices nagging at her, telling her to wake up.  The clouds were fading away to be replaced with stone floors, like the one she was laying on.  Wait a minute, lying on?  It all came back to her, the detention, Harry clutching his scar, and the unbearable pain.  She moaned in remembrance.

            "Ginny?" she heard a voice calling her name, Harry's voice?  "Ginny wake up!" yes that was Harry's voice.

            Ginny tentatively opened her eyes.  She was lying on the cold ground of the storeroom that she was just sweeping.  Dazed, she looked around and saw Harry sitting at her side.  There was redness on his forehead, as if his scar had bled.

            "What happened?" she muttered.

            "Well, I heard you scream and when I looked over, you had fainted."

            "How long?" Ginny asked.

            "Only a couple of minutes, Snape hasn't had time to notice anything amiss," Harry replied.

            "On the contrary Potter, I have," a smooth cold voice cut in.

            Immediately, Harry stood up.  "Er…Professor," he said, obviously at a loss of words.

            Snape's eyes swiftly appraised the situation.  "What has happened in here?  I don't take well to people hatching plots to get themselves out of detention."

            "It was nothing Professor," Ginny answered, knowing that Harry didn't like people to know about his connection to Voldemort, though she suspected Snape already knew.  Harry spent a lot of time in the dungeons last year as she recalled.  Ginny attempted to stand up only to find, to her dismay, that her legs were incapable of supporting her.  She glared at her legs in disgust.  "I was feeling a bit dizzy and merely laid down to take a quick rest to regain some energy.  Harry was worried and came over to see how I was.  That's all Professor I swear.  Sorry to disturb you," Ginny said, finishing her explanation.

            "Of course, but that doesn't explain the scream of pain that I heard a few minutes ago, and how Potter came to have blood on his forehead.  I don't take well to being lied to Miss Weasley," Snape replied.

            Ginny gave a frantic look to Harry.  There was no way they were going to get out of this one.  Suddenly, a yell came from inside the Potions room.

            "Professor Snape where are you?  SNAPE!"

            Snape, obviously recognizing the voice, rushed into the other room.  Harry helped Ginny to her feet and supported her as they followed Snape into the other room.  There, in the doorway of the Potions Classroom, stood Blaise Zabini supporting an unconscious Draco Malfoy.

            "What happened?" Snape asked Blaise as he walked over to her to help settle Draco on a nearby table.

            "It was another attack Professor, we couldn't find his potion in time.  This one came on too fast." Blaise explained.

            "And how are you okay Zabini?" Snape asked.

            "I always keep my potion on hand, no matter what.  I'm more susceptible to these things than Draco is.  It must have been a bad one to put him in this kind of shape…"

            A noise from the other side of the room drew Blaise's attention away from her head of house.  Ginny was trying to make her way to the other side of the room, using tables and chairs to support her while Harry was trying desperately to draw Ginny back into the room from which they came.  Harry looked up and met Blaise's eyes.  Finding that they had been discovered, Harry reluctantly let Ginny go.  There was no point in hiding now.

            "What are they doing here Professor?" Blaise asked Snape.

            Snape glanced back to where Harry still stood, "They had detention tonight."

            "Oh."

            Meanwhile, Ginny had finally reached Draco's side.  She had noticed from the other side of the room that Draco had been bleeding and had come to check out just how much.  She gasped in shock when she saw how bad a condition he was in.  Automatically she reached for her wand before realizing that it wasn't there.  She glanced up to find Snape's cold penetrating glare on her.

            "Normally he doesn't pass out like this," Blaise was saying quietly to Snape.  "We can't take him to Pomfrey, too many unwanted questions.  Do you think that we can get a potion down his throat when he is unconscious?  I didn't want to try it in the common room…"  Blaise noticed that Snape's attention was no longer on her, but focused on the Weasley girl sitting next to Draco.  Her eyes narrowed in speculation.

            "Miss Weasley," Snape started.  "I do believe you were taking some healing classes on the side last year with Madam Pomfrey, am I correct?"

            "Yes sir," Ginny replied.

            "Do you think you could heal Mr. Malfoy?" Snape continued.

            "I could."

            "But…" Blaise interrupted, knowing that there was a condition from the tone in Ginny's voice.

            "I will heal Malfoy if I am told what is going on."

            "Done," Snape said and handed Ginny her wand.  "You would have found out anyway I am sure, from the Headmaster."

            Ginny nodded and proceeded to heal the scraps and cuts that she could see along his arms and on his face.  While doing this, she noticed that the blood coming from many of these wounds appeared to be black.  Oh sure, some of it was the normal red color, but most was black.  She stored this information away for further contemplation.

            "I am going to have to remove his shirt and pants in order to find and heal the rest of his injuries," Ginny said in a demanding tone.

            "Of course," Snape replied.

            She looked up for a moment in surprise when no protest came forth before gently removing Draco's shirt and pants, leaving him in his boxers.  She forced herself to deal with the situation at hand and so spent no time admiring his body, though she would have liked to.  Once all the scrapes and bruises were taken care of, Ginny gently dressed him again and sat back in her chair exhausted.  "He should wake in an hour or so, but he's going to be dizzy, he lost a lot of blood," she said.

            Snape nodded in confirmation that he'd heard what Ginny said and placed a levitating spell on Draco.  Noting the curious glances from three different faces, albeit Zabini's was well hidden behind a mask of indifference, Snape told them that they were all going to see Headmaster Dumbledore.

            Ginny sighed, for she knew that there was no chance that her legs would support her for that kind of journey, not after the fainting ordeal and then using more energy to heal Malfoy, but she attempted to get up anyway.  Immediately she felt herself supported and looked to find the familiar figure of Harry.  He was putting her arm around his shoulder in order to help her to Dumbledore's office.  When he saw that she was looking at him, he grinned at her, causing her to grin back.  This was by far a more interesting detention then they had bargained for.  Plus they were getting out of cleaning that room…

            "Canary Creams," Snape muttered to the statue of the gargoyle.  They had finally reached their goal, Dumbledore's office.  Ginny and Harry both snickered at the password while Snape settled for glaring at their amusement.  They stepped onto the moving staircase and soon found themselves in front of Dumbledore's office door.

            "Come in," said a voice inside, before they had even thought to knock.  They entered.  "I have been expecting you," Dumbledore said by way of a greeting.

            "Does anything surprise this guy?" Harry muttered to Ginny and received a grin from Dumbledore who had heard the question.

            "Now what seems to be the problem?" Dumbledore asked the group as a whole.

            Before answering, Snape placed the still unconscious Draco onto one of the seats scattered around the office.  Dumbledore glanced at Draco and then looked to Snape.  "Another attack?" he asked Snape.

            "Yes, but this time it seems to have a larger effect," Snape answered.

            Dumbledore, who had just been pondering the presence of Harry and Ginny in his office, returned his attention to Snape with a start.  "How so?" he asked.

            Snape nodded to Harry and Ginny.  While the attention had not been on them, Harry had helped the weakened Ginny into a chair, across the room from where Draco was.  Harry himself stood near it in case Ginny was in need of assistance again.  There was still a slight trace of blood on Harry's forehead.  Dumbledore's keen, though old, eyes took in all of this with merely a glance.  His gaze seemed to linger on Harry's forehead and slowly seemed to understand the situation a bit more clearly.

            "So it is time," he said softly.

            Harry looked up in curiosity.  "What time is it Headmaster?" he asked.

            Dumbledore looked at Harry.  "There is another prophecy that not many know of.  It is as old as this school and very important to the safety of the Wizarding World.  When it was first uttered, nobody knew what it was about or when it would take effect.  Soon they figured it was just nonsense and slowly it has been forgotten.  What I am talking about is, of course, the Raven's prophecy."

            Everyone in the office was riveted to Dumbledore's story.  It is not often that they see Dumbledore so serious.  Even Blaise had trouble maintaining her usual cool and reserved mask as she leaned forward in interest.  Nobody noticed Draco stirring.

            "Now the Raven's prophecy is so named because it was delivered by none other than Rowena Ravenclaw herself.  She knew the importance of this prophecy and has ensured its survival throughout the centuries, though even she didn't know the time in which this prophecy would be needed.  Throughout the many years since the founding of Hogwarts, the prophecy has been carefully handed down from one Headmaster to the next, meaning of course that it was hidden in an obscure part of their office.  It took me at least 5 years of searching in order to find it.  It is very fortunate that I remained curious about the mysteries of this office or it would still be lost."  Here Dumbledore seemed to sink into memories, perhaps reliving the day in which he had finally found the prophecy.

            Curiosity seemed to plague the rest in the room, except of course Snape, and the now wide-awake Draco who had heard it before, the prophecy that is, not the story.

            "What does it say?" Ginny said into the silence.

            Dumbledore was startled back into the present by the breaking of the silence.  "What does it say?  Well I would assume that you all would have found it by now.  Only those who know about the prophecy, as you now do, can see it hanging on the wall over there," Dumbledore vaguely pointed to the wall beside Ginny's chair.  "I spelled it myself," Dumbledore said proudly, as if expecting praise.  Nobody moved for a second.  "Well go on read it!" Dumbledore encouraged.

            Blaise, Harry and Ginny slowly made their way over to the wall and found the prophecy.  Here is what it said:

_Far gone into the future,_

_My eyes have searched and found_

_An evil we have never seen_

_Yet away we shrink and bound._

_For power shall this evil have,_

_And use it wrongly he will_

_The world shall weep in misery_

_While he continues to kill_

_And he will live when others die_

_Though mistake will be its cause_

_The world will rejoice in evil gone_

_But alas, they celebrate a pause._

_For only he can kill himself_

_True evil knows no other_

_And so it seems there is no hope_

_For where is there another?_

_Search my friend long and hard_

_And eventually you will find_

_The four who must, in time be one_

_The blood, soul, power and mind.___

_Whether darkness or light shall triumph_

_The end is not mine to know_

_Remember always the value of life,_

_Those who forget are the foe_

_Know this, as surely as the dawn brings sun_

_Only the four can bring down the one_

            After reading the prophecy, the three fell silent, pondering its meaning.  It was Ginny who first began to understand it.

            "It's talking about now isn't it?  The period of time that is happening right now."

            "Yes, Miss Weasley, it is," Dumbledore replied.

            "Yes, I understand it.  It's talking about Voldemort, and how Harry delayed his rise to power, but everyone thought that he defeated him.  And then it tells us the true way that Voldemort can be defeated.  Through his own blood, power, mind, and," here she paused.  "Soul," she finished.

            "Ah, I see Virginia has figured out her part in the prophecy," Dumbledore said in praise.

            "Aye, and I think I understand everyone else's," she answered.

            "Well, then I suppose you should be the one to tell us then," Dumbledore prompted.

            "Sure I suppose.  It's all pretty simple once you think about it and I'm sure you have all figured it out by now.  Harry is obviously the power that is mentioned in the prophecy, since through that scar on his forehead he has inherited some of Voldemort's abilities such as the parseltongue.  Malfoy…" Ginny had just then glanced over to wear Draco had been set earlier and was shocked to find him awake.  Her pause alerted the others to Draco's consciousness.

            "Ah, you're awake," Dumbledore said pleased.  "I hope that this attack hasn't injured you any.  You are feeling better?"

            "Yes," Draco replied.  "I'm just a little dizzy.  What sort of story did you give Madam Pomfrey?"

            "Madam Pomfrey?  Why would we have to give her a story?" Dumbledore asked in confusion.

            "You mean you didn't take me there?" Draco asked, the only indication he was surprised by this turn of events was a slight widening of his eyes.

            "No, of course not, Miss Weasley over there healed you.  Now if you please Virginia, continue with the explanation," Dumbledore said.

            "Right, Malfoy is the blood, though I am not sure by what events.  I know he is because I noticed that the blood that he bled during the attack was black instead of the usual red, a sure sign of evilness that is being contained in order to avoid contaminating other parts.  I assume that it wouldn't be contained if it was Malfoy's blood and not someone else's.  I…I am the soul.  Which leaves Zabini to be the mind if I am correct in assuming that we are the four?"

            "Yes, you are," Dumbledore affirmed.

            "May I direct a question to Miss Weasley, Headmaster?"

            "Of course you may Draco.  I am sure Miss Weasley will answer it if she is comfortable doing so," Dumbledore answered as Ginny nodded her head in agreement.

            "She seemed to elaborate on Potter's condition as well as mine, but was suspiciously silent on her own.  How did she end up in the possession of a piece of Voldemort's soul?"

            "Miss Weasley?" Dumbledore asked after a long pause during which Ginny had said nothing.  "You don't have to explain if you don't want to."

            "No, Headmaster.  I might as well get it over with.  If we're going to have to work together on something this important, they deserve to know my part in this whole thing is.  You might remember my first year with the basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets," Ginny began and continued at their nods.  "What you may not know is that I am the one who opened the chamber…" Ginny proceeded to tell them about her experience with the diary of Tom Riddle, who is now known as Voldemort, and how a piece of his soul was entrapped in that diary.  She then told them how, through her entries in the diary, Riddle slowly gained control over her and eventually placed his soul in her in order to use her life force to live.  "Harry came down the chamber when they found out I was missing and destroyed the diary, cutting off Riddle's soul from his plan, which was encrypted into the diary.  Without something to guide it, the soul was useless and has remained trapped inside me," Ginny finished.  She was afraid to look at the others, afraid to see their reaction to the nightmare in her life.

            "Well, it's getting late; why don't we all meet again some other time in order to sort out a plan?" Dumbledore said.

            Everyone agreed.  Ginny practically sprinted out of there when they were finally dismissed.  All she wanted to do was to get to her bed and try to forget about that horrible time in her first year.  In her rush, she didn't see the curious eyes that followed her out.  She didn't see them, but someone else did.

            "Malfoy, may I have a word," Harry said as they were leaving.

            "No," Draco said, and continued on his way to the dungeons, careful not to move too fast.

            "Fine ferret, be like that.  Just don't pry into her business," Harry spat.

            "And what business is that?" Draco asked, stopping to glance back at Harry.

            "Look, don't bring that up okay.  She'll be really touchy if you, _especially_ you, do, understand?  I know that you're curious about it, but just don't."

            "What are you talking about Potter?" Draco drawled.

            "Don't you know anything ferret?  It was your father who gave her that blasted diary," Harry said and turned to walk away, leaving a stunned Draco behind him.

*          *          *          *

A/N: Here's Chap 2!  Hope you enjoy it! ~Irish

PS. I can assure you that updates in the future may not be as fast as they are right now, its just I have so much time to write during winter break and I'm trying to get as much of this story done while I have so many ideas for it!


	3. Chapter Three

~Chapter Three~

            The next day came fairly quickly and normally.  Nobody woke up unnaturally early, and there were no major accidents in potions that day.  In fact, the only suspicious thing that happened that day occurred during breakfast.  During owl post, four owls came in holding identical, neon yellow parchments.  These were delivered to Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, and Blaise Zabini.  Of course, once they realized that these parchments were from the Headmaster, everyone presently forgot about it.

            Slowly, the four opened their letters.  Inside was a note from Dumbledore instructing them to come to his office again that night at 8:30 p.m.

            When Ginny wanted a day to go slowly, it seemed to fly by.  She was dreading the meeting tonight because she couldn't bear to face the people she had told her deepest and darkest secret to.  Especially Malfoy and Zabini; who knew what kind of teasing or other form of torture they would submit her to.  Unfortunately, she couldn't stop time, and so 8:30 did come around, much to Ginny's disappointment.

            "Come on Gin, we're going to be late," Harry said from the portrait where he was waiting.

            "Where are you two going?" Ron asked them suspiciously.

            "Dumbledore wants to see us.  Honestly Ron, we told you that this morning!" Ginny answered.

            "I don't remember anything from the mornings; you of all people should know that by now."

            "Whatever Ron, come on Harry lets go!" Ginny said, walking out of the portrait hole.

            When Ginny and Harry walked into Dumbledore's office, they found the other two people involved in their meeting already there and sitting in the two green armchairs in Dumbledore's office.  Predictably, Ginny and Harry sat in the two red ones.

            Ginny glanced nervously at the two Slytherins.  After a moment, she seemed to relax slightly as she slowly realized that there were not going to say anything about last night.  A couple minutes later, Dumbledore entered the office.

            "Ah, I see you are all here and ready to begin?"

            "Yes Headmaster," they replied.

            "Good, good.  Now we have some matters to discuss.  As you all know, you are the four that will defeat Voldemort.  First off, is there anyone here who does not wish to defeat the Dark Lord?  We will not hold anything against him or her if they do not want to be a part of this."

            Both Ginny and Harry glanced at the two Slytherins, waiting to see their reactions.  It was a well known secret (secret in that the Ministry was hesitant to convict them) that the Malfoys and the Zabinis were big Dark Arts families and Ginny and Harry wanted to see what their final decision would be.  After a time when nobody spoke up, Dumbledore went on.

            "Good, I'm glad you are all willing participants."

            "Does that mean that you would've forced us is we refused?" Blaise asked.

            "Not at all, I would have merely tried to convince you to lend us the use of your part of Voldemort so we could've completed our mission," Dumbledore replied.  "Onto business; most of you are in your sixth year, which gives us just under 2 years to train you.  We're shooting for defeating him just after your graduation since our information tells us that's when he's planning a big attack."

            "That would be because I graduate huh?" Harry asked.

            "Yes, we believe so.  Voldemort is still very obsessed with killing you since you are the only person who continually slips out of his grasp.  Anyways, Ginny, you are the only fifth year which means you are going to have to work extra hard to learn the spells that you are going to need.  We need you up to their level as soon as possible.  I have a schedule worked out using your evening hours that may get you caught up.  It involves you three as well," Dumbledore said, indicating Harry, Blaise and Draco.

            "What would we have to do Headmaster?" Blaise drawled.

            "I am asking you to help tutor Virginia.  Would that be alright?" Dumbledore replied.

            "I guess," Blaise agreed.  "What exactly would this entail?"

            "Blaise, you would tutor Virginia in Charms and Transfiguration since they are your two strongest points.  Harry, you take over Defense against the Dark Arts and Draco, you take Potions.  Would that be alright?"

            "Yes Headmaster," was heard from the three sixth years.

            "Excellent.  This also means that you three will have to work on strengthening your weak points.  You now know the strongest subjects of your teammates, so please go to them for help.  The schedule is as follows: Blaise has Mondays and Tuesdays for charms and transfiguration work; Harry has Wednesdays for Defense Against the Dark Arts; Draco has Thursdays for Potions; and you all will meet on Fridays for any extra help.  The Room of Requirement is open for your use and I promise that nobody will disturb you while you are working in there.  You will meet each day from the end of dinner until curfew.  Are there any questions?"

            "Is there anything specific that we should teach the little Weasley?" Draco asked.

            "Just bring her up to par with you older ones."  Draco nodded in reply.

            "Headmaster," Harry began.  "Is there anything else that we should do to prepare us?"

            "Well yes, now that you mention it.  First off, Ginny and Blaise, you should join your Quidditch teams.  I know that you, Ginny, joined it last year as seeker and I strongly suggest you continue.  Quidditch is a good way to better your reaction time and learn to think on your feet.  I recommend that you become chasers since they have to think about both dodging the bludgers and scoring points.  Also, in time, I will have a training program set up for you guys.  What you are called to do is very serious and many things can go wrong.  I need to get you as prepared as possible.  I hope that you do your best to follow this training program as soon as I get it completed.  Also, each of you needs to keep up with your studies and possibly extend your knowledge as much as possible.  You never know what you are going to need to know so it's better to know too much than too little."

            "Great," Draco muttered to Blaise.  "We're going to become like little Granger wannabes, spending every second of our free time in the library."

            "I know that some of you may disagree with extra studying but it would be helpful.  If you would put aside your bad feelings towards this boring but necessary pastime, I would be most grateful."  The last statement of Dumbledore's seemed to be directed more at the Slytherins than anyone else in the room.

            "If there are no more questions…" Dumbledore paused to allow any additional questions room to be voiced.  "Good.  The study sessions start this coming Monday.  Now, would any of you like to deplete my supply of Lemon Drops?"

            "What?" Harry asked.

            "I'm offering Lemon Drops.  Would you like one?" Dumbledore repeated with the familiar twinkle in his eyes.

            "Er… no thanks," Harry replied.

            "Blaise, Draco?  Would you have one, or perhaps one of these other candies that I have?" Dumbledore asked.

            "Err… okay," Blaise agreed while Draco shook his head no.

            Ginny, who had by now recognized the other candies as the newest line of products from Fred and George's joke shop, leaned forward in anticipation.  She watched as Blaise's hand reached towards one of the hair changing lollipops and started to grin.  It was at that moment that she caught Dumbledore's eye.

            "Now remember.  The whole point of these study sessions, especially the Friday ones, is to build up trust between you and your companions.  Since you are going to have to save the world together, it is imperative that you trust each other enough.  You are each going to be responsible for the others lives.  I suggest that you begin trusting and helping each other now."  It seems as though Dumbledore knew that Ginny had recognized the sweets that he was offering to Blaise, making it a test to see if the group could help each other.  Ginny sighed in annoyance; the prank would've been so funny.

            "Don't eat that Zabini," Ginny said reluctantly.

            "Why not little Weasley?" Blaise replied.

            "Because your hair will change color and the effects will last for a week, no matter what you try to do to reverse them.  I'm sure something else happens but I am not sure what.  I recognize that candy; it's one of many in my brother's new supply.  It is one of the less drastic ones though."

            Blaise placed the candy back into the bowl that Dumbledore held, giving Ginny a confused look as she did so.  It was a new thing to Blaise, to the whole school, a Gryffindor preventing a Slytherin from being humiliated.  Blaise wasn't sure what to make of it.

            Meanwhile Dumbledore smiled approvingly.  _Perhaps they will make it through, he thought.  __Perhaps we'll be saved._

            "I thank you for your time.  Remember what we have discussed.  You are dismissed," Dumbledore said.

            The four students got up slowly and walked out as if in a daze.  Everything seemed so surreal.  I guess you could say that reality was finally kicking them in the butt; they had only now realized what they were called to do.

            "Do you think we can do it?" Ginny asked Harry as they walked towards Gryffindor Tower.

            Harry seemed to ponder his answer to this question for a few minutes.  "I think if we learn to work together and we work hard from now until my graduation, we'll have a good chance," he finally said.  Ginny accepted this with a nod.

            Meanwhile, the other two were worried about entirely different things.

            "What are we going to tell everyone about where we'll be when we have to be in the Room of Requirement?" Blaise asked Draco as they headed to their own common room.  "If anyone gets wind of the real reason we're gone…You know our families will stop at nothing to make us into the perfect Deatheaters."

            "I know.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, they don't know that they have already failed in that aspect.  If they ever found out that their precious children had gone the other way and joined with that oaf Dumbledore, well, I don't want to know what they'd do," Draco replied.

            "Yeah, especially since it's us."

            "Yeah"

            What Draco and Blaise were referring to was their unique position in the circle of Deatheaters.  Many people don't know the true nature of Blaise and Draco's birth.  It was two years before the Potter's deaths when Voldemort realized that he would need an heir.  He knew that because of his plans to become immortal, that it wouldn't be for a while that he would need this heir; in fact he wouldn't really need an heir necessarily, just a means to produce someone like him if anything should go wrong.  Voldemort decided to create different children who would each hold a part of him.  In the end he decided to only use two, a boy and a girl, since they could then pass on their parts through children that they may have together.  He ordered his most trusted followers to have children, and patiently waited the nine months for these children to be born.  Of course, we all know that by patiently waiting, we mean that Voldemort went on a rampage, terrorizing as many wizards and muggles as he could.  Finally the week came when many of the children were born.  He carefully examined each one.  There was the Crabbe's, the Goyle's, the Malfoy's, the Parkinson's, and the Zabini's kids to consider, but there really wasn't a hard decision involved there.  From the very first, it was painfully obvious that Crabbe and Goyle junior would be just as stupid as their fathers are.  Pansy, the Parkinson's kid, already had a pug nose and she was clingy, always wailing for her mother.  Only Draco and Blaise stayed silent and displayed the potential that Voldemort was looking for.  Within months Voldemort had made a copy of his knowledge and stored it in Blaise's brain.  It was spelled to not overwhelm the baby; meaning that it would only reveal itself when Blaise was able to handle such knowledge.  He didn't want to risk the carrier of his knowledge to insanity.  In Draco, he placed some of his blood, for Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin and such a line had to be passed on only in blood.  He was planning on also storing some of his power in Draco, but that was before the fateful day when he went to kill the Potters.  On that day, the power he was planning to give Draco, invested itself in Harry instead.  It was yet another reason why Draco was taught to hate Harry.

            It wasn't until many years later that Draco and Blaise began to hate the dark side.  I guess you could even say that it began on their first real trip to Diagon Alley, when they had received their first Hogwarts Letters.  As they were walking through the Alley, they noticed all the happy faces, all the parents who praised their children.  This completely contradicted their life as they were faced with grim parents who only paid attention to Draco and Blaise when they got into trouble and needed punishment.  Draco and Blaise became showcase children, only needed to put on a good show when guests were over.  It struck them as odd that other families were happy being poor, as long as they had their families to love and care for them.  Neither would admit it, but they were actually jealous of the Weasleys.  Anyways, it was around their fifth year when they realized how utterly idiotic their families and their dark ways were.  By then, Voldemort had begun to gain back his original power and Blaise and Draco were being introduced to the ways of Death Eaters.  They watched silently as Voldemort obsessed over making Potter get the prophecy.  They each thought it pathetic that the fearsome Dark Lord would be completely unhinged by the continual escape of one mere, wretched boy.  It struck them how pointless it would be to join such a side, a side where the obsession with money and power was everything and nobody realized the value of love.  Draco and Blaise didn't even fully realize the value of love, but they knew that other families were happy just being rich in love while their lives were miserable and they were rich in the money sense.

            "Well shit, I'm beat and its only 9:30.  Oh well.  All this good behavior crap is tiring me out.  Good thing we won't be talking to ol' Dumbledore for a while now.  I don't have to do without the insults anymore!" Blaise said.

            "Don't count on it.  The old bat wants us to try and get along with Pothead and his loyal follower."

            "Yeah, well getting along to me means not beating each other up every chance we get.  Besides, we have to work on their mental toughness, can't have them crying whenever the Death Eaters make a mean comment about their hair or something," Blaise replied.  "I'm heading for my nice bed; see you in the morning Drake."

            "Yeah, whatever Blaise."

*          *          *          *

A/N: Okay, I'm sorry if that last part was confusing… I realized that I didn't tell the story of why Blaise and Draco are the blood and mind and why they don't like the dark side as much anymore so I figured I should probably tell it!  If there are any questions, feel free to email me or ask it in a review!  And I know that the part with Dumbledore sounds like a question and answer sorta thing, but I couldn't figure out how to change it and still get all the info in there!  Sorry if this chap's boring!

Thanks to: WhiteRosePetal, i-don't-have-a-heart, and kelz* who have reviewed so far, you're the best!

~Irish


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

            Monday came around far too quickly.  Ginny awoke that morning with a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.  It wasn't until after breakfast, as she was heading towards charms, that she realized exactly what that feeling was referring to.  Charms tutoring, that night with none other than Blaise Zabini, whom she had saved from one of her brother's prank candies.  Oh man this was going to be bad.

            Ginny became even more nervous as the day went by.  She wasn't sure what she should expect out of these tutor sessions, especially seeing as they were often with Slytherins.  How should she act, what should she bring?  All of these worries and more started to plague Ginny as dinner grew nearer and nearer.  Eventually her friends noticed.

            "Gin, what's with you today?  You seem… antsy." Colin commented during dinner.

            "Um, nothing really Colin," Ginny replied.

            "Whatever.  I can tell you obviously don't want to talk about it.  Did you hear what happened with Lavender and Seamus?" Colin asked.

            "No!" Ginny replied, glad that they topic had been changed.

            "So I walked into the common room today right after lunch right, and there are Lavender and Seamus in the middle of a huge row.  It was classic.  Anyways, it turns out that in charms class today Seamus was his usual horrible self, really must be something wrong with his wand, and he put some sort of spell on Dean, accidentally of course.  Well, you know how Dean and Lavender are going out now, right? Right, so Seamus caused Dean to, well I think it was some sort of age spell or something because Dean is upstairs right now screaming about cooties and that girls are icky and is randomly telling bathroom jokes.  It's almost like he lost, like 10 years in maturity!" Colin told Ginny, who was laughing hysterically.

            "More like 3 years," Ginny managed to say through her laughter.  

            "Hey!  We men aren't that immature," Ginny just kept laughing at that.  "Fine, we can be a bit hard to put up with at times," Colin amended.

            Ginny snorted in reply.

            By the end of dinner, Ginny had managed to relax somewhat, thanks mostly to the constant chatter of a certain Colin.  Although Colin knew that something was bothering Ginny, he didn't push her into telling him, simply tried to take whatever troubled her off of her mind.  For that, Ginny was grateful.  She got the feeling that this prophecy that she was now a part of was not something she should talk about.

            Dinner's end could not be avoided forever and it eventually came.  Ginny left the Great Hall feeling lighter hearted than she had all day.  There was something about Colin that made any day better.  She was still grinning from the stories Colin told her when she walked into the Room of Requirement for the first of her daily tutor sessions.

            "So glad that you decided to join me, Weaselette," came Blaise's voice the moment Ginny closed the portrait hole.

            "Anything to please you, Almighty Slytherin," was Ginny's sarcastic reply.

            Blaise smirked.  "I'm sure," she drawled.  "Let's get started.  The sooner we start the sooner I can wash away Gryffindor cooties."

            "Ah, resorting back to first year humor I see.  Not that I expected any better from a Slytherin, but honestly, cooties?"

            Blaise settled for glaring at that comment and pulled out her charms textbook, both fifth and sixth year.  "What are you learning right now in charms?" Blaise asked.  And that was how Ginny's charm tutoring began.  The entire session was spent on testing what Ginny knew so Blaise would have a better idea on what she had to teach her.  It was 2 hours later before Blaise deemed that she knew enough.

            "Okay, so you're pretty good at the typical prank charms, mostly illusions.  I trust you got that from your idiotic twin brothers.  Anyways, we're going to have to work on the more practical stuff, like _accio_ and banishing charms and stuff.  Now get out of here and go to the library or something; you still have an hour until curfew and I don't want Dumbledore to think I'm doing this job half assed.  I want you to look up these two charms," here Blaise handed Ginny a scrap of paper with the two charms on them.  "We'll work on them next week."

            Ginny groaned softly.  She didn't think that she would actually get homework as well from these classes.  The next couple of years were going to be a nightmare, getting double the load of homework and less time to do it in.  Knowing better than to complain to Blaise, Ginny reluctantly left for the library, throwing a half-hearted glare over her shoulder as she did so.  It was when she got to the library that she realized her motivation.  She had been cursing what had gotten her into this mess when she realized that it was Voldemort himself, or a younger version of him.  Putting two and two together, Ginny realized that by doing this extra work, she would be that much closer to putting an end to Voldemort.  With this in mind, Ginny threw herself into the work as soon as walked through the library doors; studying with such intensity as to rival Hermione at her best.  Before long she had charms textbooks spread out all over the table and was intensely taking notes.  She was so into studying that she didn't notice when the annoying chime went off in the library, announcing that there was ten minutes left before curfew.

            "Miss Weasley…. Miss Weasley!"  A hand reached out and shook Ginny's shoulder.  "Miss Weasley!  You have five minutes until curfew!  I suggest that you hustle back to Gryffindor before I take points!" Madam Pince's voice called out.

            Ginny's head snapped up and she glanced at the clock in the library.  It was indeed five until 10 and she was going to have to book it to get back to the tower in five minutes.  "Thanks Madam Pince," Ginny commented as she stuffed some books in her bag and took off out of the library.

            With thirty seconds left until curfew, Ginny found herself in front of the entrance to Gryffindor tower.  She was out of breath and couldn't feel her legs because of the speed she forced herself to in order to make it back.  Ginny glanced behind her to make sure nobody was there; she was pretty sure that Filch and Mrs. Norris had followed her out of the library, hoping that they would catch her breaking curfew.  Satisfied that nobody was behind her, she gasped out the password and climbed in.

            "Where were you?" came Ron's voice as soon as Ginny appeared in the Common Room.  "I've been looking all over for you!"

            Ginny held up a finger, signaling that she still needed a moment to catch her breath.  Ron stood beside her, impatiently tapping his foot as he awaited her excuse.

            "Can't a girl study anymore without informing the whole world where she will be?" Ginny finally managed.

            "I'm not the whole bloody world," Ron said.  "I'm your brother and it's my job to worry about you."

            "So go worry someplace else; you're annoying me!"

            "I'm annoying you?  I'm annoying you!!  I'll have you know missy that I have been worried sick about you for the last 2 hours!  Where have you been?"

            "Did it ever occur to you that I'm a big girl now and can do as I please without asking permission?"

            "You're not a big girl, you're fifteen and therefore, as your only family member here, it is my responsibility to take care of you."

            "Ron, you know what you were doing at my age?  Coming up with the DA, playing Quidditch, fighting Death Eaters and did you ever ask permission to do these things, with the exception of Quidditch of course?"

            "Are you mad?  Do you think mum would ever allow me to do any of that if I asked her?"

            "Why don't you think on what you just said.  I'm tired and I'm going to bed."  Ginny left Ron standing near the portrait hole with a confused expression on his face and went up to her dormitories.  Once there, she took out the books that she grabbed from the library and started practicing some of the easier charms, making pillows and other objects fly across the room, float to the ceiling, etc.

            "I'll show them," she muttered to herself.  "Those Slytherins won't get the best of me!  They want perfect?  I'll show them perfect!  Let's see what they say when we're through!"

            Needless to say, Ginny was really getting into the competitive spirit.  It's amazing what traits Slytherins will bring out in Gryffindors.

Meanwhile in the Slytherin Common Room…

            "So, Zabini, how'd it go?  You give the Weasel a verbal lashing or what?" Draco asked.

            "Actually no; I'm testing her."

            "And how exactly are you doing that?  Please answer the why too while you're at it."

            "Well, I started our little verbal lashing out on her today.  Just easy stuff to see how she would respond…"  Blaise stopped.

            "And…?"  Draco prompted.

            "Well, she shot that down, so we don't have to worry about her crying if anyone takes a look at her face and runs away."

            "That's comforting."

            "Yeah well, I need to see what we're paired up with.  If we're supposed to save the wizarding world from the evilness that we're supposed to be apart of, then I need to see if it's worth it.  I mean, suppose this little Weasley was a crybaby and more of an idiot than Longbottom."  Draco snorted when he heard that.  "Well, what if huh?  Would it be worth it to try and train her to defeat Voldemort then?"

            "I suppose not.  I guess you've got a point.  Just one question Zabini, why would it matter if one of us is a sniveling coward?  I mean the others could just take their part of Voldemort and finish the job without them right?"

            "That's the point Draco.  One of us is going to take everyone else's parts of Voldemort and defeat him.  One of us is going to become essentially a copy of Voldemort.  Don't you remember the bloody prophecy?  It said, '_the four who must, in time be one.'_  Now think about it Draco, who is the only one of us who cannot give up their part of Voldemort?"

            "Weasley," Draco said softly, realization dawning on his face.

            "That's right, you get a gold star.  Nobody can give up a soul that isn't theirs.  Blood can be taken, power given, the mind transferred, but the soul is permanent.  Ginny is going to be the one to defeat Voldemort and I want to see if she's worthy."

*          *          *          *          *

Hey all, Irish here!  I'm sorry for any grammar or spelling or other mistakes I may have made in this chapter.  I was so excited to finally have finished another chapter that I wanted to post it right away.  Terribly sorry that it took so long for me to get this chapter up!  My Research Paper was going on and man was that a killer!  You'd think that after 3 years of doing them the night before it's due, I would finally realize that procrastinating isn't the way to go!  Yeah…

Anyway the real reason I got this up today is because I need some help!  You see, I'm supposed to give this speech in two days… I'm the campaign manager for my friend who's running for Study Body Treasurer at our school and I have no idea what to say in this speech!  I don't want it to be boring and stuff, meaning just listing her accomplishments and why she is qualified and stuff!  So what should I say?  I kinda want it to be humorous and stuff… but I'm not very creative!  So HELP!  Thanks a lot guys!

~Irish


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